Two Missed Calls
by virtualailee
Summary: "It wasn't a ghost ship, Stark. It was a bait. Ross', and we walked right into it." He can't be ogling the phone all day, can he? "Clint saw soldiers and told us it was a trap, but it was too late. They had their crosshair on Steve from the beginning. Took everything we had to get all of us out in one piece." Two missed calls. He should've been there when Steve needed him.
1. Chapter 1

[Voice mail 1]

Steve: Tony, there's a freight ship off the coast of Algeria that's been moored for a month. We think they're smuggling children for superhuman experiments. Been keeping an eye on it for a while, and there are suspicious… light shows. Unusual explosions. Has the… Avengers been mobilised to check it out? Whatever is going on in that ship, it's getting more frequent. I'm afraid we don't have much time.

[Voice mail 2]

Steve: We're heading in tonight. It could be nothing, but… I'll update you when I get back.

Voice: Hullo? Who's this?

Tony: …

Voice: … OK. I get it. Uh, "Shall we try lifting the hammer with a stick? Stick's probably worthy."

Tony: … _Wilson_?

Sam: Stark? Always the cautious one, aren't you? Are you tracing this line?

Tony: What are you doing with Rogers' phone?

Sam: Jeez, man. This phone goes only to one number, and it's _yours_?

Tony: I'm asking you, where did you get this phone – where's Steve?

Sam: We've seen him staring at this phone a couple of times over the day when he thinks nobody's watching. Thought it's connected to the Avengers somehow. I wasn't wrong.

Tony: You're the champ, Wilson. Congratulations. Put the phone back where you found it and go play with your Nintendo –

Sam: It's about Steve.

Tony: … What about him?

Sam: He's… the past two weeks we've been shadowing a ghost ship –

Tony: In Algeria's waters. I know. I'd just gone through the voice mails. Tell _Steve_ we're not alerted of any ghost ships –

Sam: He's in a coma.

Tony: … That's not possible.

Sam: It wasn't a ghost ship, Stark. It was a _bait_. Ross', and we walked right into it. I'm not sure if they'd pinpointed which Shangri-La we're putting up in, or if that was dumb luck – but they were waiting for us on the lowest deck. We split –

Tony: We? Who else went with him?

Sam: … Clint and myself. He told us to split up, clear the areas quicker. Clint saw soldiers and told us it was a trap, but it was too late. They had their crosshair on Steve from the beginning. Took everything we had to get all of us out in one piece.

Tony: Besides Steve, are any of you –

Sam: We're both fine. Clint got shot in the shoulder, but like I said, they wanted Steve.

Tony: How sure are you it was Ross' men? Could be anybody.

Sam: We heard Ross on the PA, and their uniforms, Stark. They're all wearing the Avengers badge and none of them are enhanced. What _is_ going on your side?

Tony: What's his prognosis?

Sam: Poor. The serum should help.

Tony: Where are you? Are there doctors –

Sam: It's all right, that part is covered. We have world-class medical support, and the people are trustworthy. You can take my word for it.

Tony: … I know where you are.

Sam: Tony, don't – I _trusted_ you –

Tony: Do you? And am I? Am I what, reporting your ass to Ross so he could finish what he'd _allegedly_ set to do?

Sam: Believe me, don't believe, doesn't matter. I need a favour.

Tony: … What do you need?

Sam: Steve's medical report – after that D.C. incident – it's all locked up on your private server in Malibu, isn't it? Medical logs on… what drugs he can tolerate, his vitals – because God, hooking him up to the machines the first time threw the docs off their feet. Anything that might help the team here?

Tony: Yes. How do you want it delivered?

Sam: Encrypt it. Save it onto a drive, and I'll text you a zip code.

Tony: You got to be kidding me. Your… _host_ is still in New York, isn't he?

Sam: Tony…

Tony: _He's_ Registered, and he's been… _persuaded_ to sort out the mess that is Zemo. So yeah, he's here, and I'm meeting him tonight and I'm going to pass Steve's report to him. Objections?

Sam: … Is this a trick?

Tony: Believe me, don't believe me, it doesn't matter.

Sam: God, _Tony_ –

Tony: … If I didn't give two damns what he means to me, to us, _this_ wouldn't have happened, Sam.

Sam: Tony? We got the drive. The doctors are working on it.

Tony: … How is he?

Sam: The same.

Tony: All right. Let me know when he wakes.

Tony: Hello?

Sam: … Yeah?

Tony: You sound like a truck just ran over you. You OK?

Sam: It's been a long day… there are some weird shit happening in the markets in Algeria. Once bitten, twice shy, eh? But we can't just close our eyes, you know Steve won't let us.

Tony: Don't tell me –

Sam: Clint's gone out to scout the area a bit –

Tony: _God, Sam!_ You know what Ross is capableof doing! He won't stop until _all_ dissidents – all of you – either sign or locked up someplace –

Sam: I know. But what are we gonna do? Sit back with our hands in our pockets?

Tony: Damn right you are.

Sam: … This is why you and Steve couldn't even agree on a wallpaper for the gym.

Sam: Hey.

Tony: Is he up?

Sam: Not yet.

Tony: … What did the doctors say? Is it supposed to take this long? It's been a week, Sam.

Sam: They say anytime now. Could be in five minutes. Could be tomorrow.

Tony: … I'm flying there now.

Sam: No. Don't – Steve will murder us in our sleep –

Tony: We need a change of roster. I've a team who worked on my arc reactor surgery – they can take Steve in. If he's not in the condition for a flight, I can fly these people over –

Sam: Tony, calm down. It's all right. His vitals are fine, his EEG comes back normal – give him some time. He'll be all right. Tough as nail, that son of a bitch.

Tony: … Yeah.

Tony: Sam?

Voice: … Tony? 'S been a while.

Tony: … Good to hear from you, Cap.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve: Hey.

Tony: Hey. How are you?

Steve: … Like my head's stuffed with cotton candy.

Tony: That's the good stuff doing its job. Remember D.C.? They had to run a _computer simulation_ to approximate what to give you and how much.

Steve: Thank you. Sam told me you supplied him my med record.

Tony: … The least I can do, Cap. You sound hammered, to be honest. I'll call again sometime?

Tony: Hello?

Sam: Stark, talk some sense into the man, would ya?

Tony: What's going on?

Sam: He's refusing his pain med. Says it does something funny to him – hold on.

Steve: Tony, that you?

Tony: … Hey, Cap. What's going on?

Sam: _Steve, please, stay in bed!_

Tony: … Steve? What's wrong?

Steve: I'm _fine._ Tony, listen to me. We have to stop talking on the phone. Where are you now? Are there eyes on you?

Tony: Give me some credit. I'd bolted after the first call. I'm back in the Tower. JARVIS is personally on guard duty. Any tampered lines, illicit recordings – I'll be first to know.

Steve: OK. OK, Tony.

Tony: Ross isn't going to lay a finger on us, Steve. I promise you that. We're his nuclear deterrent now, remember? We're getting on with each other just fine. God, that half-an-hour shiatsu near the 42nd. My hips have never felt this _right._

Steve: … I heard that Ross is setting up an _ad hoc_ committee to – to round up the rebels. Did you know anything about that?

Tony: Vision may've read a thing or two about that initiative on Ross' private server. Covertly. Why?

Steve: And you're on board with it?

Tony: … When the motion was filed and passed, it never came to us.

Steve: … Tony, you _know_ this – isn't – isn't right, this is _oppression_ –

Tony: Cap, we're done for the day, all right? Take your meds, rest, and stop worrying. I'm here, aren't I?

Voice: We're taking Cap to bed. You heard him. Stop calling.

Tony: What? Hey – no, don't hang up – _Clint_? Don't –

Steve: …

Voice: Steve?

Steve: …

Voice: Steve, please. If you're there.

Steve: Who's this?

Rhodey: … It's Jim.

Steve: Anyone listening in? You're whispering.

Rhodey: … I'm in Tony's suite, in the Tower. His bathroom, actually. Running a shower and everything.

Steve: Why?

Rhodey: He made me swear to keep down the voices if I'm having a conversation off-camera.

Steve: Off-camera. People are _spying_ on you? Is it Ross?

Rhodey: … Tony thinks so.

Steve: How did you get this phone?

Rhodey: He gave it to me two days ago. Said if things get hairy, call this, call for help. He didn't say it was gonna be you on the other end, didn't want to risk saying your name, just in case.

Steve: Where is he?

Rhodey: … I don't know. Steve, I got a bad feeling – he was summoned to the Raft yesterday night. A last-minute meeting with Ross himself.

Steve: He's always packing a suit with him. He'll be fine.

Rhodey: … All the suits are on lockdown.

Steve: If we know Tony, he's got to be hiding a legion of Iron Man in a volcano as backup –

Rhodey: Cap, there is no backup.

Steve: … How long has he been gone?

Rhodey: One day.

Steve: Jim, you got to get out of there.

Rhodey: … I can't. We have a contingency plan. Vision's off limit for obvious reasons, Ross doesn't want to risk uh, agitating the Mind Stone in his head. I've been tasked with recruiting new members and liaising with foreign governments about the policies and future collaborations. An awful heavy portfolio if I've ever seen one, to make me appear less… dispensable.

Steve: The Raft, you said?

Rhodey: I'm not calling you to ask for help, Cap. I'm letting you know… as a friend. Stay put, wherever you are. Tony will have my ass if he knows you risk blowing up your cover for him.

Steve: …

Rhodey: Hi, Aunt May! How's your cataract doing? Still having double vision?

Natasha: My oh my, if it isn't the Colonel! I thought Mr Stark has hidden this phone from you, something about meatloaf as dry as carpet. FYI, the secret is in the rose water.

Rhodey: Yeah, well, guess who found the phone in the end? I did add the rose water like you said, Tony absolutely _hated_ it.

Natasha: And where's the devil himself, hmm? Still tied up with his work?

Rhodey: Still tied up with his work, yeah. Street crime's been on the rise, ma'am. We're _all_ tied up with work, to be honest.

Natasha: Gotta keep the streets safe again. I know I'm ninety with eyesight as clear as milk, but I'm nasty, so if you need me to start swinging my brolly –

Rhodey: Don't you worry about that. You rest up, mind your cataract. Those eye surgeries always give me the heebie jeebies.

Natasha: … Take care, Jim. I'll talk to you soon?

Rhodey: … I'll talk to you soon, Aunt May.

Natasha: Tell Mr Stark he's welcome for dinner anytime? I promise not to add the rose water.

Rhodey: … I'll let him know.


	3. Chapter 3

Rhodey: Steve, Tony's back.

Steve: It's been two days since the Raft. Where else did he go?

Rhodey: … He _was_ in the Raft all along. They had him.

Steve: … It wasn't just a meeting, was it?

Rhodey: God, they worked him over good.

Steve: Is he OK?

Rhodey: He's… still sleeping. We found him a bloody mess in the backyard. Someone tossed him there from a moving vehicle, looking at the tracks.

Steve: How bad?

Rhodey: Water in the lungs. He's showing early signs of pneumonia, but we've taken care of that. Multiple contusions and lacerations over non-vital areas, nothing life-threatening. A bruised kidney. Dislocated shoulder. Fractured tibia. He'll live.

Steve: … Did he say anything?

Rhodey: … If he did, he'd be walking through the front door instead, wouldn't he?

Steve: Jim?

Tony: It's me, Cap.

Steve: Tony, are you all right?

Tony: … Now _my_ head feels like it's stuffed with cotton.

Steve: Take it easy. I'm glad you called. Back in the Tower?

Tony: … The mansion. Woke up this morning and Rhodey said I'd been suspended from active duties. Then I looked around and what d'you know, they'd already flown me here. I have no say in anything anymore, do I?

Steve: … Tony, this can't continue. This could be the _beginning_ –

Tony: Yeah. So? I can't leave. If I go, they'll just put someone else on the rack.

Steve: No.

Tony: Better me than them.

Steve: [Violent assault, withholding of a person]

Tony: Steve…

Steve: This isn't about being an 'upstanding, Accord-abiding enhanced individual' anymore. This is about protecting _yourselves._

Tony: I can't leave now. Not yet.

Steve: You're just a man, Tony. Don't take this the wrong way, but how much more beating can you take? This has to stop. It's killing you.

Tony: … Then, so be it.

Tony: G'morning, Cap.

Steve: Morning. Sun shouldn't be up over your side.

Tony: It's… oh-three-hundred, so technically, still morning.

Steve: … Can't sleep?

Tony: … No.

Steve: Something else woke you up?

Tony: … How's Manchurian Candidate doing, anyway? Haven't heard about him since forever. Which means good news, I suppose.

Steve: They put him back on ice.

Tony: Wow. After all that'd happened, you let them put him _back_ on ice?

Steve: He wanted it. Said he couldn't control his mind.

Tony: … Steve, I'm sorry. It's long overdue –

Steve: If there's one thing I could do over, it's being honest with you. I was selfish, and for that, I'd hurt you.

Tony: I wasn't – if you didn't stop me then, a Hydra victim would've been dead instead of rehabilitated, and I'd been a murderer.

Steve: It wakes me up at night, sometimes.

Tony: I bet you've plenty other Lovecraftian things to keep you up at night. I don't have to add one more.

Steve: I worry for you.

Tony: …

Steve: It's strategic. They'll wear you down, break you from the inside out. I'm not talking about your bones and flesh. They mend. Some things don't.

Tony: No kidding. Have you seen Barnes?

Steve: Tony, if I don't know you, I think… you're planning something.

Tony: … Wowzies. Am I that transparent?

Steve: And everything is going according to plan.

Tony: … Stop, Steve.

Steve: I'm telling you, stop. Before it's too late.

Tony: I won't. This is the only way to end this, Cap. You know it, too, so help me –

Steve: I'll pull you out myself if I have to, Tony – that's not how it's supposed to be –

Tony: Then what, huh? If you've a better way out, I'm all ears! Nat was right, remember? We should've stayed together. Doesn't matter _how_ we do it, but we should. But it's too late, Steve! You're there, and I'm here, and there's no way around this but forward. And there's only one end for me –

Steve: … I'm not watching you die, Tony. Martyrdom isn't the answer.

Tony: "The price of freedom is high, and it always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay."

Steve: Please –

Tony: "And if I'm the only one…"

Steve: … It's not worth it.

Tony: Your life and mine aren't priced any higher than Wanda's, or Clint's, or even Ross'. You took up the shield to protect. Let me do what I'm meant to do. I still stand by what I said, Steve, that the Avengers needed to be kept in check. I was wrong about "whatever form it may take". It's my screw-up. This isn't Hydra, or some phoney Mandarin. This is _our government_ , and short of committing highest treason… this is it, Steve.

Steve: It's not worth it, Tony. Reconsider, please.

Tony: … Better me than you, Cap. Listen, there'll be ramifications, after… after this is over. They'll stop coming on to the Avengers so hard, and Vision will hold down the fort here as long as he can. My instructions are clear: wait for Steve Rogers. You _have_ to come back and lead these kids. Liaise with the government, work with them instead of backing out – don't repeat your mistakes, Steve. And finish what I couldn't.

Steve: … I hear you.

Tony: Yeah?

Steve: You're a good man, Tony. It's been an honour.

Tony: From Captain America himself? I can die happy.

Rhodey: _Tony? What happened – oh God, somebody get the docs!_

Steve: … Tony?

Tony: Yeah. Ah… I… kind of… there's blood, dunno where it comes from –

Steve: Tony, stay with me, stay with –


	4. Chapter 4

Rhodey: Steve? It's Jim.

Steve: I'm here. What happened? How's Tony?

Rhodey: Stabilised. It's his fault, we told him to stay in bed – his lung collapsed. Broken ribs, see. He's fine now. We tried to strap him to the bed so he'll stay put – don't think he likes restraints much. He thrashes in his sleep. That makes it difficult to keep the bones aligned. Then… he starts talking in his dreams. He thinks he's back in the Raft. They asked about you, Steve.

Steve: …

Rhodey: They asked about the suits, the arc reactors and the Tesseract, then they asked about you. Where're you hiding, where's the rest of the Avengers. Who was he talking to constantly on this beat-up phone.

Steve: ... Jim, I'm sorry.

Rhodey: … I'm not supposed to be telling you this –

Steve: Then maybe you shouldn't.

Rhodey: I've family, too. Maybe, maybe this is for the best. Tell Clint and Scott that their families have been taken care of. Whisked off to some luxury island owned by one of Stark's family friends. They're very low-profile, and Tony's parked some suits around it, just-in-case.

Steve: ... Thank you. I'll let them know.

Rhodey: We're all he's got, Steve.

Steve: I know.

Tony: Cap?

Steve: Hey. How are you feeling?

Tony: Same ol'. I uh… I can't talk long. Ross called again.

Steve: Tony –

Tony: It's different. This is P and C but I'm gonna tell you anyway. Soon after the Accord went official, I built a sensor… it's.. colossal. Planetary-level colossal. In preparation for another Chitauri invasion, or worse. We got a code red forty minutes ago, we have eyes in the sky. All members are on stand-by, twenty-four-seven.

Steve: … Let us help.

Tony: That's why I'm meeting Ross. I have to go, Steve.

Rhodey: Steve? We got an update on the projected _direction_ of the energy disturbance. It's like the waves are homing onto a target. Whatever it is, it's huge enough for the sensor to pick up.

Steve: Where is it currently?

Rhodey: Andromeda. It's heading for our galaxy. Fast.

Steve: Any news from Tony?

Rhodey: Not yet.

Vision: _Thor is here._

Rhodey: Oh boy. Thor's here, Steve. He doesn't look happy.

Steve: Keep us posted.

Rhodey: … Exactly what Tony told us to do.

Tony: Steve, pack your bags. Tell T'challa to clear out the runways. We're sending a dozen quinjets your way. And tell the others to put some gas into it. You're all coming back to New York.

Steve: What's the threat?

Tony: Honestly? Some purple dude on a floating throne. He calls himself Thanos the Mad Titan.

Steve: How long before he reaches Earth?

Tony: Dunno. He's making a pit stop at Io. We need you here, ASAP. Shit, where's Strange when you need him?

Steve: OK. We're on the move, Tony.

Tony: … I'll you soon, Cap.

Steve: Be safe, Tony. I'll be there.


End file.
